Three people are dead from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in an Orlando, Florida home. Four others were hospitalized. A portable gas generator was found running inside the home. Millions in Florida are without power after Hurricane Irma. (Sept. 13)
AP

WASHINGTON - Sen. Bill Nelson blasted the head of the Consumer Protection Safety Commission for not doing more to improve the safety of portable power generators following several carbon monoxide-related deaths in Florida from Hurricane Irma's aftermath.

In a tense exchange Wednesday during a Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing, the Florida Democrat grilled CPSC Acting Chairwoman Ann Marie Buerkle for what he described as a passive response to a growing crisis, especially as the hurricanes have spurred consumer desire for more generators.

"How many more deaths in the aftermath of this hurricane are we going to have to see before we finally get the regulatory process of the United States government off its posterior and start doing something about protecting the safety of the people, the consumers, who have a huge desire now to buy generators," he asked Buerkle. And "if we have another hurricane season (like) this year next year, how many more deaths?”

Two teenagers and their 34-year-old mother died in Orange County last month after they went to bed, the victims of carbon-monoxide poisoning from the generator in their home. In Titusville, eight people were hospitalized on the same day after the improper use of a generator.

Buerkle was the lone vote in opposition last fall when the commission issued a proposed rule requiring portable generator manufacturers to significantly reduce carbon monoxide emissions in most models. The agency is charged with protecting the public "from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of types of consumer products "

Buerkle opposed the rule, which has yet to be finalized because she said the CSPC can't mandate something that falls under the Clean Air Act. That, she said, is the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency, a view with which EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt agrees.

Nelson and other Democrats contend the commission clearly has jurisdiction over portable generators and should not cede its authority to the EPA.

The more legally defensible — and faster — approach, Buerkle told senators, would be to adopt a voluntary standard to equip new generators with a "shutoff valve" that would turn off the machine or prevent it from starting if carbon monoxide levels were detected above a certain standard.

"We understand the hazard, but we believe that the shutoff technology can be potentially more effective, so it is certainly the most expedient way to proceed with this hazard in order to address it as quickly as possible," she told Nelson.

She said the industry has told her the technology is being tested and could be ready by year's end. Portable generators already come with a warning that they are not to be operated in the home.

Nelson slammed the idea of a voluntary standard as one "which manufacturers wouldn’t do because it’s voluntary. You’re not requiring them to (adopt one)."

But Buerkle said requiring either a stringent carbon monoxide emissions standard or a shutoff valve would trigger a lengthy rule-making process that could take years to finalize. A voluntary standard could be adopted much faster, she said.

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Industry representatives argue that a voluntary standard would lead to broad implementation because consumers would demand it, and not installing the valve could make them more vulnerable to lawsuits.

"Once the revised standard is completed, all (Portable Generator Manufacturers’ Association) members will work to comply with the revised standard by implementing carbon monoxide shut-off systems on portable generators," said Susan Orenga, the trade association's executive director.

Nelson made a point during the hearing of noting Buerkle is recommending the association's vice president Patricia Hanz for the job as CPSC's top lawyer. Hanz is the assistant general counsel to Briggs & Stratton Corp., which makes lawn mower engines, snow blowers and portable generators.

Buerkle is a former New York GOP congresswoman whom President Donald Trump has nominated to chair the agency full time. Wednesday's hearing was conducted in part to consider her nomination.